Panaji (Goa)  With several Portuguese-era structures wanting protection from being pulled down, Goa has decided to frame Heritage Conservation Policy which will provide “new lease of life” for them.

State Town and Country Planning Minister Vijai Sardesai said that the policy would be formed after consulting the experts in the field. Goa has several hundred houses with Indo-Portuguese architecture which were built during the colonial rule.

Sardesai said that the policy will not only document the existing Heritage structures but will also work to give them a new lease of life. “The incentives would be introduced to those people who have conserved their ancestral structures with heritage and architectural value,” he said.

State-based Charles Correa Foundation which has been working towards the heritage conservation has been requested by the State government to document and list heritage buildings across Goa.

“The structures would be graded by the foundation. They had started grading the heritage houses in Panaji much before State government had approached them. We have now asked them to extend scope of their work to other places too,” Sardesai said.

The minister also said that State department of Archives and Archeology could also be roped in to restore the dilapidated structures, if they are covered under the policy.